Over the past few decades the brisk development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has had a phenomenal impact on the economic stability and development of many countries. Empirical studies show that most developed economies have gained significant payoffs (in terms of economic...

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between labour productivity and employment in Australian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results indicate that labour productivity of SMEs varies substantially between industries within the manufacturing sector, but on average...

Trade in services has outpaced trade in merchandise over the last two decades. The services sector has increased steadily in importance both in terms of it shares in GDP and employment over the lat 30 years in Australia and its contribution to trade will continue to increase. The significance of...

There has been a significant shift in trade policy orientation in Bangladesh over the last two decades. A dirigiste policy orientation has gradually been replaced by a more outward oriented economic policy. In line with such policy orientation, a series of trade liberalisation measures has been...

Background: Private psychiatric services are produced and consumed on a fee-for-service (FFS) basis in Australia. The Commonwealth Government subsidises these (and all) medical services via Medicare, a universal, comprehensive, tax-financed medical and hospital financing mechanism. A key purpose...

In this paper we examine unemployment rate dispersion across the (statistical) regions in theMelbourne metropolitan area. We find that the level of dispersion is positively correlated withthe unemployment rate in all the regions taken together and that the ‘elasticity’ of dispersionwith...

An important puzzle in international macroeconomics is the exchange rate disconnect puzzle. Based on recent empirical literature by Mussa (1986), Baxter and Stockman (1989), and Flood and Rose (1995), high exchange rate volatility under floating rates appear not to be related to the high...

Existing methodologies of bank branch performance analysis are dominated by accounting and financial measures that inherently generate information of a retrospective nature. The outcomes are a possible misleading assessment of a branch's economic viability and misguided planning decisions in...

A letter of credit (L/C), in international trade may be described as an instrument of finance carrying a conditional guarantee of payment from the overseas (buyer?s) bank to the seller. Consequently, a L/C is desirable in high value and/or high risk transactions. The guarantee is conditional...

This study investigates the effects of public infrastructure investment on economic growth under Thailand?s fiscal sustainability framework. A recursive supply-side model based on the Standard Neoclassical Model framework is used using Thai national data on public revenue (taxes, non-tax revenue...